Long balmy summer

Long balmy summer

The weather just doesn’t know if it’s summer or winter – with mild, mid-twenties days, balmy nights and we’re still swanning around in our summer wardrobes.

One thing we would like is some rain.

With only 2mm of rain over the last 6 weeks, the ground is starting to dry and crack and, it is believed, we are heading into an El Nino period.

Admittedly the grass is starting to crisp but a good downpour, and the mild days we are experiencing, would set the feed right for winter. Rain would also help soak in the horse manure that is laying around, and give your newly arrived dung beetles a fighting chance against the rock hard clay soil. I like to keep the manure in the paddocks, to form part of the entire soil regeneration system … but some moisture would most certainly help it’s integration.

Anyway, rain is predicted for this weekend – we can only hope the weather bureau is right.

The lack of rain did give us the kick up the backside to finish the garlic paddock’s irrigation system. We were busy elsewhere around the farm, and hadn’t connected the pipes as the weather forecast kept promising rain – which never came.

Our garlic crop suffered a mild case of water stress. A few yellow-tipped leaves and some slowed sprouting as garlic does like to be kept moist, but not wet.

Fortunately the irrigation is now working perfectly and the garlic is recovering very nicely. We were advised by a Department of Primary Industries specialist that our very mild water stress is not a problem as will force the roots deeper and he believes we will have healthier plants in the long run.

The garlic is now getting it’s regular drinks and we’ll spray another dose of green manure fertilizer later this week. The garlic is set for winter.